Recommendations for Enhanced Transparency
1. Publicly post all market rule amendment proposal materials for submission to the IESO Board prior
to the meeting, subject to limited exceptions. Such limited exceptions may include redactions for
legal privilege, commercial sensitivity, or security, to protect sensitive information. Materials will
include a summary of stakeholder feedback from the stakeholder engagement and the Technical
Panel, with links to individual stakeholder feedback posted to the IESO website, in addition to the
following documents, listed in table of content format for each Board submission:
a. Agenda Item Summary
b. IESO Staff Presentation Materials
c. Market Rule Amendment Proposal form
d. Memo to Board of Directors from Technical Panel Chair
e. Technical Panel Materials
i. Memo to Technical Panel from IESO staff
ii. Market Rule Amendment Proposal form
iii. Stakeholder feedback
f. Stakeholder feedback summary, stakeholder engagement and Technical Panel
g. Consumer Impact Assessment
h. Draft Board Resolution
2. Publicly post written reasons for the IESO Board’s decision in respect of a market rule amendment
proposal, with the authorizing Board Resolution. The reasons would be in template form that:
a. confirms whether any conflict of interest was declared, and if so, that the Board member
was recused;
b. acknowledges the stakeholder consultation and feedback record, particularly where there is
a lack of consensus or clear dissent;
c. acknowledges the Technical Panel process and vote, particularly where there is a lack of
consensus or clear dissent at the stakeholder level informing the vote, or where the
Technical Panel vote is not unanimous; and
d. either approves or rejects the market rule amendment proposal, providing a rationale for
the decision.
3. Publicly post all stakeholder feedback on draft market manual amendments, and the IESO’s
response to the feedback.
4. Publicly post historical market manual baselines to the IESO website, on a reasonable efforts basis.
Going forward, update the publicly accessible chronology of market manual amendments with each
baseline.
5. Introduce guidelines that clarify the distinction between market rule content and market manual
content. Guidelines should be broad and flexible, but involve a clear assessment, where the primary
distinction would be that: (a) rules of conduct that materially affect rights or obligations, (b) rules
that materially affect money or property, or (c) rules enforceable by penalties.
Recommendations for Enhanced Inclusiveness
6. Where market manual changes are required to support a market rule amendment, determine
whether draft market manual content should be provided to stakeholders for review as part of the
engagement process (along with the draft market rule amendment language as described in #7
below). The IESO’s determination would apply a new review threshold, informed by
timing/reliability and materiality/economic impact considerations. The IESO would consult
stakeholders market manual content they want to review at the same time as the market rule
amendment proposal, which would include identifying the considerations that would inform the
IESO’s assessment of whether the threshold is met.
7. For each market rule amendment proposal, consult stakeholders and request feedback on the draft
market rules as part of the engagement phase. Following the engagement, a summary of
stakeholder feedback would be submitted to the Technical Panel and the IESO Board, to inform their
respective reviews of the market rule amendment proposal. The record of stakeholder feedback
would indicate whether there is consensus or dissent.
8. Review and potentially revise Technical Panel composition and process to avoid duplication with
stakeholder review of the market rule amendment proposal and draft market manual content in a
preceding engagement.
9. Introduce a new stakeholder Markets Committee that would be expected to contribute to the
overall success of market initiatives by providing advice, guidance, and support for the development
of electricity markets in Ontario. The proposed Terms of Reference for the Markets Committee are
attached as an Appendix to these recommendations (draft pending stakeholder consultation on
proposed Terms of Reference, not for Board approval at this time).
10. Fund low volume‐consumer representation and participation in stakeholder engagements. Consult
the Markets Committee on the recruitment of low volume consumer representatives. Low volume consumer representation would be specific to Regulated Price Plan consumers, as defined by the
OEB.
11. Consult the Markets Committee on the recruitment of new Technical Panel members, including the
knowledge and expertise informing the desired candidate profile.
12. Consult the Markets Committee on the recruitment of new Dispute Resolution Panel members,
including the knowledge and expertise informing the desired candidate profile.
Recommendations for Enhancements to Market Participant Remedies
13. Amend the dispute resolution provision in the market rules to provide the market participant/
applicant (in a dispute), with selection and veto rights as concerns the appointment of a mediator,
arbitrator or panel of arbitrators from the list of Dispute Resolution Panel members (to the extent
this right does not already exist).
14. Continue to be receptive to introducing new mechanisms for market participant redress in the
market design. The market renewal design engagements are currently exploring new mechanisms
as part of the High Level Design process and will continue to identify and refine potential new
mechanisms in the Detailed Design process.
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These recommendations are taken from the final report of the Advisory Group on Market Rule Governance & Decision-Making Processes, November 23 2018.
Further information is available on the IESO website under Engagement Initiatives / IESO Governance and Decision-Making